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Research Monograph # 35
Jacqueline comes to school unable to read. She is slow to recognize the letters
Research Tells Us of the alphabet and has great difficulty learning the sounds each letter makes.
G Children who fall behind as readers Her knowledge of sight words is minimal. She has limited interest in looking at
read less; this, in turn, can increase the books or listening to stories. Year after year, Jacqueline devotes extra time to
skills gap between struggling readers reading activities, while her parents and teachers engage peer readers to work
and their peers. with Jacqueline, use a host of motivational techniques to model, reward and
G Self-efficacy belief in oneself as a even coerce her to read. Despite everyones best efforts, including Jacquelines,
reader is half the battle in helping she does not develop the reading skills that allow her to derive meaning from
students learn to read. text with adequate speed, fluency and comprehension. In Grade 5, Jacqueline
G Choice in what to read, when to read is still only able to read at a first grade level.
and how to read acts as a powerful Adapted from Edyburn (2007)
motivator for all students and especially
for those who struggle with reading. Classroom and special education teachers use many strategies to help students
read at grade level. But what do we do for children like Jacqueline for whom those
G Text-to-speech technology faciltates
strategies are not effective? Assistive technology specifically text-to-speech
student choice, differentiation and
self-advocacy. technology (TTST) offers a possible solution.
This technology decodes with an accuracy and fluency that children who strug-
gle with text cannot attain on their own. TTST allows any text to be read aloud
by a computer-synthesized voice; it has the potential to empower struggling
MICHELANN PARR teaches language readers to work independently within grade-level expectations and demonstrate
and literacy at the Schulich School high-level thinking.1 Struggling readers, often limited to low-level activities
of Education at Nipissing University focused on decoding and literal comprehension,2 are given new and exciting
in North Bay, Ontario. Her research opportunities to engage with the written word, to make meaning from text and
interests include family literacy. to develop comprehension skills.
text-to-speech technology and its
impact on the reading process, and
writing as a way of understanding. The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat is committed to providing teachers with current research
Dr. Parr is also interested in the on instruction and learning. The opinions and conclusions contained in these monographs are,
pre-service development of language however, those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies, views, or directions of
and literacy teachers. the Ontario Ministry of Education or the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat.
Changing Perspectives/Overcoming Barriers
Traditional reading strategies, designed to support the ability to decode and
make the connection between sounds (phonemes) and letters (graphemes),
What is reading? are effective for the majority of students.3,4 There are some students, however,
for whom these approaches are insufficient. The problem is one of information
The Ontario Ministry of Educations
processing. By the time the word is successfully decoded, the child may have
Expert Panel on Literacy suggests
neither the energy nor the capacity left to understand and utilize the content.5
that reading is an interactive,
As a result, many of these students enter into a vicious cycle of withdrawal from
problem-solving process of making
text. Frustrated, they often stop reading, losing the text exposure necessary for
meaning from text.
reading development and, ultimately, for the acquisition of knowledge and
understanding in all subjects.
Reading requires higher- Although text-to-speech technology is one way to differentiate instruction for
order thinking skills ... such students, there are obstacles to classroom use. Struggling readers worry
To read with understanding, students that they may be stigmatized, while confident readers worry that TTST users
need: are cheating or receiving a special privilege. Parents and teachers worry that
if students read with a computer, they will never read independently. Without
high-quality texts of appropriate
TTST, however, students with information-processing and other reading challenges
complexity and variety, and many
may never read in a way that supports their overall development.
opportunities to read and talk
about them Decisions about the appropriateness of TTST have traditionally been made by
rich reading experiences that teachers or instructional teams who consider (a) the students strengths and
connect with the readers personal needs, (b) the environmental and contextual demands placed upon the student
and cultural identity and (c) the demands of the task.7,8 Yet as the study we report on below suggests,
all students are capable of making a decision about the use of TTST in much
purposeful and explicit reading the same way as they choose text formats, authors or genres. When students are
instruction to read and understand
engaged in making decisions about TTST, this technology becomes a support
a range of texts on a variety of
for choice, differentiation and self-advocacy.9
subjects
engagement with a wide variety
of text forms that help students to Choice, Differentiation and Self-Advocacy
see the text all around them and Three vignettes of Mackenzie, James and Jacqueline are drawn from ethno-
recognize the many ways in which graphic classroom research conducted with a Grade 5 class over a period of
they read each day eight months. Specifically, we looked at the links between meaning-making,
Ontario Expert Panel on Literacy fluency and the use of TTST.
in Grades 4 to 62
Mackenzie A confident reader/confident refuser of TTST
Mackenzie comes to school each day with a book in his hands and a smile on his
face. Every spare moment is filled with a good story: history, fantasy, contemporary
and classic he tries them all. He reads despite the activity around him, he reads
without being told, and he reads with a rare intensity. He reads because it is fun,
exciting and relaxing; he reads to experience different worlds and adventures.
In Grade 5, his Canadian Test of Achievement reading scores place him at the
97th percentile. Never has Mackenzie needed instructional supports outside the
regular classroom.
Without TTST, students like Jacqueline would be denied access to texts that
allow them to learn at the same rate as their peers. While these students can
often decode at high levels, the process is so slow and capacity-demanding that
comprehension suffers and energy to engage fully in the reading process is
Struggling readers
drained, ultimately leading to withdrawal from text. For readers who need it, should not be limited
TTST will never be just a reading tool: it will be the voice of efficient decoding
and confidence an enabling tool likely for the rest of their lives.11 to low-level activities
focused on decoding
Implementing TTST in the Classroom
and literal
Building Understanding/Modelling (Weeks 12)
Discuss what it means to read; use the definitions in the Ontario Expert comprehension.
Panel on Literacy in Grades 4 to 6.2
Demonstrate reading with TTST (using a computer with speakers and a data
projector for showing the text). Ask, How is this reading?
Read a variety of texts (e.g., stories, poems, or content) with TTST and
human voice and discuss and compare.
Discuss the role of TTST in the reading process. What does it actually do?
June 2011 3
Guided Exploration (Weeks 34)
Learn more about LNS Provide various texts (both teacher-assigned and student-selected) to work
resources ... through the novelty of TTST.
Visit The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat Offer TTST as a learning station, simply one way to access text.
Guide to Print and Multi-media Resources at Conduct mini-lessons on the features of TTST, such as voice and speed
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/ selection, post-it notes and word look-up.
PrintMultiMediaResources.pdf
Call: Practice with Purpose (Weeks 57)
416-325-2929 Assign the use of TTST for a specific purpose (e.g., to acquire content).
1-800-387-5514
Encourage students to read at self-selected rates.
Email:
LNS@ontario.ca Conduct ongoing conversations about text content and the function/use
of TTST.
In Sum
Allowing all students access to TTST addresses many of the concerns identified by
students, parents and teachers with regard to feeling stigmatized or privileged.
TTST should be a ubiquitous and effective option for all students, not an
accommodation for a select few (p. 157).12 For most, TTST will be a nuisance
that interferes with their reading process; for some it will be a choice to be made,
dependent on motivation and ability to focus. But, for those whose lack of decod-
ing skills and fluency are a source of frustration, TTST will be a confident voice
in their heads, a support for meaning-making and a valuable lifelong tool.
REFERENCES
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